eye tooth
1
6.7
- noun
- /ˈaɪ ˌtuːθ/
- Archaic
:
canino
- The eye tooth is essential for biting into tough foods like meat.
Examples
-
Cash money only unless the Chief wanted to part with that elk's eye-tooth, eh?
Fiction book (1997) -
Outside, it hung an elk's eye-tooth on a string.
Fiction book (1997) -
Her teeth announced the weaponry that was her entire physical being: they came first, the two small eye-teeth that did not line up with the rest but thrust themselves forward and made her mouth seem overly large, as if she was nursing certain secrets.
Fiction book (1997) -
The dentist pointed out that my eye tooth was slightly misaligned.
-
Children usually begin to lose their eye teeth around the age of six.
Synonyms
9
3.8
A pointed tooth between the front and back teeth used for tearing food
2
3.3
A pointed tooth next to the front teeth that tears food
1
8.3
A pointed tooth between the front teeth and the back teeth used for tearing food
1
8.2
A pointed tooth next to the front teeth used for tearing food
A long pointed tooth on each side of the mouth used for tearing food
Surface Forms
Morphology
eye + tooth
The parts 'eye' + 'tooth' provide a clear locational association (a tooth related to the eye area), so a learner who knows both words can infer it refers to a specific tooth near the eye (i.e. an upper canine). However, the precise identification as the canine and the somewhat technical/less-common usage are not fully predictable for an average B1 learner without anatomical or lexical knowledge, making it only partially transparent.
Etymology
The noun eye tooth may come from the sharp tooth that sits under the eye. People long ago noticed that pain from this tooth could be felt near the eye, so the name came to mean the 'upper canine'.